


Brothers

by SeleneMoon



Series: Say Uncle [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Catholic Steve Rogers, Half-Brothers, Jewish Howard Stark, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 22:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17455580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeleneMoon/pseuds/SeleneMoon
Summary: In 1917, in the trenches of Normandy, a Jewish soldier and a Catholic nurse fell in love.In 1918, Steve Rogers was born to his recently widowed mother.Howard Stark worked out that Steve was his older brother sometime between age three and four.





	Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> I'd recommend subscribing to the series "Say Uncle" because this is going to be part of a larger series. ^_^

In 1917, in the trenches of Normandy, a Jewish soldier and a Catholic nurse fell in love. It was a time that life seemed short. They lost acquaintances and friends daily, and neither of them truly expected to survive to face society’s norms. Their love, their comrades, and the war was all that existed. Then the nurse became pregnant, and suddenly her survival became much more important. She told her child’s father, who proposed. She hesitated; knowing the strain it would put on his relationships with his family and community. A member of his unit was injured around that time and the nurse volunteered to escort him and other casualties back to America. Her friend took a turn for the worse on the journey. They both knew he wasn’t going to survive. So he asked her to marry him. If things didn’t work out between her and the father, his brother in arms, at least the child wasn’t born out of wedlock. She could hold her head high in church. If it did work out with the father, there were no rules against marrying widows. She accepted.

That is how the newly wed and widowed, Mrs. Sarah Rogers disembarked from the ship with the body of her husband. Several months later, Steve Rogers was born.

Sarah met with Steve’s father when he was discharged. They agreed it was for the best if they moved on. He married a nice girl his mother approved of, and sometime later, his (second) son, Howard Stark, was born.

 

 

 

Howard worked out that Steve Rogers was his older brother sometime between age three and four. His dad visited the Rogers from time to time bringing Howard along for a play date with Steve. Howard could tell that the two of them being brothers was a secret and it would be best to cut contact but he wouldn’t stay away from his brother for anything. As he grew older and the play dates tampered off Howard started saving his own money from fixing stuff in the neighborhood and selling small gadgets to improve radio reception so he could take the subway to see his brother and Mrs. Rogers, who always greeted him with a smile.

When he met Bucky the older boy made a joke about Steve liking someone around who was smaller then him. Which caused Howard to enlist Bucky’s younger sister, Becki, in a prank crusade against her brother. Then Steve and Bucky joined forces and it became an all out prank war that only ended with an asthma attack from Steve and a through scolding from Mrs. Barnes who admonished Howard and Steve alongside Bucky and Becki as if every one of them were her own.

Sometimes they would just go to a movie, often with Steve insisting that he pay. Once they tried putting a motorcycle together from scrap. Howard was sure they would have gotten it running too, despite the rusty parts, if Mrs. Rogers hadn’t found out about it. The boys were subjected to an in depth lecture on tetanus before she ‘requested’ they abandon the project. The nurse then checked them over for any cuts or scratches, fussing over Howard, almost as much as Steve.

It scared Howard to know how sickly his older brother was. He would tinker with the furnace so it would give off more heat in the winter. He tried to build a machine that would clean the air for his asthma. That didn’t work, but it got a good laugh out of Steve once he managed to stop choking on the fumes.

As Howard grew up and his tinkering became a career, he started gaining power and money for his genius and inventions. To his frustration, Steve and Mrs. Rogers rejected his offers of money and housing. He owned three houses and four apartments. It wouldn’t hurt him if someone else were living in one of them! Even after Mrs. Rogers died, Steve chose to tough it out with Bucky instead of taking Howard’s offer to help him with rent. It was infuriating. Fortunately, Bucky was a lot less proud about accepting a little help for Steve’s medical bills. Neither of them were dense enough to let on to Steve.

And when the war rolled around it was only patriotic to offer his intellect to the cause… The funding didn’t hurt either.

 

 

 

“Your calculations are too reckless.” Dr. Erskine insisted. Howard sighed.

“Relax, doc.” He rolled his eyes. “If we want it to work, we’re going to have to be a little risky.”

Dr. Erskine’s eyes narrowed. “These are men, Mr. Stark!” He snapped. “They are fathers, sons-”

“They are _soldiers_.” Howard interrupted, his jaw tensing as he glared at him. “They are willing to die for their country. We need the strongest soldiers to win this war. These experiments will help our troops survive.” He stood, his chair scraping loudly on the floor. “My calculations might increase the risk, but they also improve the odds of success.” He scowled at him. “My math stands.” He strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

 

“Good God, Stark, you would not believe the shrimp Erskine wants to use for the procedure.” Col. Phillips growled, accepting the whiskey Howard offered him, tossing the file down in exasperation.

“Oh?” Stark raised an eyebrow as he sat back with his own drink.

“Look at him!” The colonel snapped, gesturing at the file, the liquid in his glass sloshing. Howard took a sip as he flipped open the file. He choked on the whiskey. The colonel slapped him on the back vigorously. “Bit strong?” He chuckled. Howard could barely hear him over the pounding in his ears. How dare he?! He surged to his feet, his blood hot with rage.

“Excuse me.” He said to Col. Phillips curtly. “I need to talk to the good doctor for a moment.” He stormed out of the room. The file partially crushed in his fist.

 

Dr. Erskine did not appear surprised or alarmed to see him burst into his office and lock the door behind him. He put away his notes as Howard stalked up to him and brandished the file at him.

“What is this, Erskine?” He snarled.

“It appears to be Steve Rogers’ file.” He answered, blasé. “He seems to be an ideal candidate. He’s no one’s father, or son,” There was a glint in his eye. “Or brother.” Howard recoiled before his blithe mask slammed into place. How the hell did he know? “Though if you are concerned about him, maybe that should be reflected in your calculations.” Howard stiffened. The bastard! He was forcing his hand. Howard opened his mouth, ready to snap that he could reject Steve as a candidate. But his genius mind worked faster than his mouth.

“Let me see your notes.” He said instead. Erskine raised his eyebrow and pulled out his notebooks. Howard took them and started flipping through them. He wanted to reject him out right but… it could cure his asthma… make him stronger…. He could make it through the winter without the constant cold and near pneumonia…

“I’ll adjust the calculations.” Howard threw the notebook back at him and stalked out of the room.

 

 

 

Steve had said good night to Dr. Erskine and was getting ready for bed when Howard slipped into the room. Steve stood up.

“Mr. Stark,” He greeted him, his eyes flicked to the door. When no one followed he relaxed. “Howie.” He moved over to him, his arms open. Howard rolled his eyes at the nickname but returned the hug more tightly than usual. His little brother was never much of a hugger. Steve pulled back and grinned up at him. Howard had grown taller than him at age eleven. Howard sighed.

“I should have known you would end up mixed up in this.” He grumbled, crossing his arms and sitting on the cot across from him with a thud.

“So you’re contributing to this project too then?” Steve sat on his own cot, and some of the anxiety he’d been suppressing over the upcoming procedure lessened. His brother was a genius with protective tendencies. Steve trusted him. “Guess I’ve got nothing to worry about then.”

Howard huffed and leaned forward. “Do you really want to do this, Steve?” He asked seriously. Steve set his jaw. Howard grimaced. “Well, I know that look.” He muttered. “You must have gotten that stubborn streak from Mrs. Rogers.” Steve tried not to smirk. They both knew he hadn’t gotten it from their father. Howards hesitated. “It’s going to hurt.” He warned. “I promise you everyone’s undersold just how painful it’s going to be.” He rubbed his mouth. “If it gets to be too much I’ll shut it down, just say the word.” Steve frowned.

“Okay, but I’m flipping it on you too, Howie.” He said firmly. Howard looked up at him, blue eyes met brown. “If I say to keep going, you keep going.” Howard opened his mouth to protest. “I mean it, Howie.” His voice rose. Howard’s gaze flicked to the thin walls in alarm. “Tomorrow I’m a soldier, and I know you. You wouldn’t stop an experiment for a soldier.” Howard’s mouth tightened.

“Fine.” He muttered. “Fine.”

 

 

 

“Serum infusion in… Three… Two… One…” Erskine counted down. Steve hissed as he was injected. Erskine looked at Howard. “Now, Mr. Stark.” Howard looked away from his brother and flipped a switch. Steve was encased in the pod. Howard strained to listen, catching Steve make a joke, when Erskine nodded and turned to Howard. “We will proceed.” Howard took a breath and started to move, losing himself in the science to ignore his instinct to stop this now.

“Ten percent.” He called out turning a wheel. “Twenty percent. Thirty.” The light was blinding. Howard ignored the twinge of smugness as Erskine shielded his eyes. He’d made sure that he and his techs had tinted goggles. Too bad he’d forgotten to offer a pair to the good doctor. He continued to shout out the progress. “Sixty percent. Seventy.” That’s when the screaming started. Howard froze, his hand still on the wheel.

“Steven!” Erskine shouted, pounding on the pod. “Steven!”

“Shut it down!” Agent Carter yelled from the second floor catwalk. “Shut it down!” Howard wanted to. But Steve had told him-

“Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark!” Erskine turned back to him taking the decision out of his hands. Howard moved to another console. “Kill it! Kill it-!”

“NO!” Steve’s pained yell paused Howard before he could touch the other controls. “DON’T! I CAN DO THIS!” Erskine turned to him. But Howard didn’t wait to see what he was going to say. He stared at the blinding light for just a second, then moved back to the wheel.

“Eighty!” He called, his heart pounding. Bucky was going to kill him if this went wrong. “Ninety!” Damn it. “It’s one hundred percent!” He shouted. His console sparked but Howard didn’t look away from the pod, bringing up one hand to shield himself while the other held the wheel firm. The entire lab erupted in blown fuses, sparks flying, then the light being emitted from the pod died and the sound from the machinery faded. Howard slowly lowered his tinted lenses, staring wide eyed at the pod, already reaching for the switch to open the pod.

“Mr. Stark!” Erskine shouted as Howard flipped the switch, drawing their attention back to the pod. The pod opened and… _Oy_ … Was that _his_ brother? He was bigger, toned… healthy. Even as his eyes stared in disbelief the scientist in him started cataloguing the results and providing explanations. Howard rushed to his side as Erskine helped him out of the pod and got under his other arm.

“I did it.” He panted.

“Yeah, you did.” Erskine nodded.

“You actually did.” Howard agreed with an air of disbelief. Staring at him partly in awe and partly searching for any negative side affect. He was taller than him again. Did his bones grow or was the muscles doing something to stabilize the skeleton differently? He wasn’t a doctor but he looked forward to reading Erskine’s paper on this. Howard became aware of Erskine looking at him knowingly as Agent Carter stopped in front of them. He purposefully turned away, congratulating the other technicians and ignoring the big wigs who had come to observe.

Then there was an explosion from the upper observation room and two shots were fired. Howard was lost in the chaos for a moment then he saw Steve leaning over a man on the ground. He stood and watched as Erskine, bleeding out, tapped Steve on the chest and fell limp. Then he watched Steve run out of the lab after the gunman.

He suddenly realized that he had just given Steve, his reckless brother, the ability jump into even more dangerous situations than before.

 _Oy gevalt_.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I came up with this idea a while ago, but for it to work, there had to be a reason that Howard’s father and Sarah Rogers never got together. Religious differences (though I always found it absolutely nuts as a kid) were a pretty big contributor to that. I knew that Steve Rogers was Catholic (at least according to my friend who is a huge Cap fan) and I had seen the tag "Jewish Howard Stark" a few times so I decided to check to see if Howard Stark was Jewish. It turns out, a lot of people view it as canon in the MCU because of this line from Agent Carter (which is really, really good, go watch it, I’m not even kidding). 
> 
>  
> 
> _“I grew up on the Lower East Side. My father sold fruit, my mother sold shirt waists for a factory. Let me tell you, you don’t get to climb the American ladder without picking up some bad habits on the way there’s a ceiling for certain types of people how much money your parents have, your social class, your religion, your sex. The only way to break through that ceiling sometimes is to lie, so that’s my natural instinct, to lie.” – Howard Stark (Agent Carter)_
> 
>  
> 
> https://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/01/28/howard-stark-jewish/


End file.
